We all remember where we were when we heard the news on 11 September 2001, or when we first saw the footage of planes hitting the World Trade Center and the buildings collapsing.

For some, it was a distant and surreal event. For others, it was the moment they realised that someone they loved might be in danger. For many, it became the day they lost someone.

It is one of those days we don’t forget.

But anniversaries also give us an opportunity to reflect on what happened afterwards.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The destabilisation of nations and communities. The suffering of countless civilians. The growth of nationalism and hate. The fear and division that have continued to shape so much of our world.

There have, of course, been stories of hope. Acts of kindness. People choosing compassion over hatred, reconciliation over revenge, peace over violence.

Those stories matter.

But what remains difficult to reconcile is how much suffering has been caused by our determination to make others suffer because we have suffered.

We can condemn, without qualification, the actions of the hijackers. We can grieve with those who lost people they loved. We can acknowledge the horror and injustice of that day.

And we can also question what we have done with the pain that followed.

Jesus, a Jewish man known as the Messiah in Christianity and a significant prophet in Islam, said:

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Perhaps, after twenty-five years, we should pay a little more attention to that.

Imagine what the world might look and feel like if the resources spent on war, death and destruction had instead been invested in peacebuilding, compassion, justice and reconciliation.

If the past quarter of a century has taught us anything, surely it is that hatred has no winner. It leaves behind only fear, grief and destruction.

Love is different.

Love builds.
Love heals.
Love reconciles.

Love wins.